Sales tax up in proposed Saltillo budget

SALTILLO – An expected continued rise in sales tax revenue highlights Saltillo’s proposed fiscal year 2013 city budget.
The budget doesn’t change much from the current year as far as department expenditures and general fund revenues are concerned. The Board of Aldermen will vote on the FY2013 proposal, which is for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, at a special meeting Tuesday.
The FY2012 budget was amended in May to show $609,608 in sales tax revenues – amended from $561,000 in expected revenues.
The FY2013 budget will project $630,000 from sales tax collections.
“We had an increase in our sales tax after ’09 and ’10,” said Mayor Bill Williams. “We had serious reductions in our sales tax and they seem to be inching up a little bit.”
City Clerk Mary Parker said the projected increase is based on the sales tax collections for the last nine months.
The total general fund revenues will come in at $13,482 more than in the current budget.
The biggest reduction in income comes from the court department’s revenues.
Attempts to reclaim those court fines and fees have been made by the court department and police department this year and Parker said the reduction in collections – almost $80,000 in department revenues and $49,000 in fee collections – is from people owing money on their fines.
The total city revenue for the FY2013 projected budget comes in at $2,684,981, about $26,000 less than the current year.
Total expenditures for the city are down by $58,177.
Williams said the slightly tighter budget reflects being conscious of the funds available.
“We were able to eliminate a police department position,” Parker said. “There were a couple of places where we made some capital improvements we won’t be making this year and then the other thing is, we asked our department heads to cut back so we could have a balanced budget.”
With the addition of the water and sewer budget, the total FY2013 Saltillo budget is $4,815,762.
jb.clark@journalinc.com